Building Rapport Through Familiarity

August 29, 2014
Marc Cerniglia

In relationships, building rapport goes a long way in establishing trust.  When considering your internet marketing for your law firm or practice, one of your priorities should be to build rapport through familiarity.  

The more often someone comes across your law firm, business name, your services, etc…the more familiar you become to them. Consider this; if you’re driving through a town you have never been to and see multiple locations of a local restaurant, you’re going to assume it’s a good restaurant. Or let’s use an example closer to home for lawyers, billboards. The natural perception of the attorney who is on billboards (or maybe commercials) is that they are kind of a “big deal.” Now, we all know that is not always the case, but you cannot ignore that exposure and familiarity can and does create rapport in a consumer’s mind, even if it’s subconscious.

In terms of building rapport through internet marketing, there are two audiences to keep in mind.

Build Rapport with Your Network

Its easy to think about internet marketing only in the context of prospects searching online, (people you have never met).  But your clients, colleagues and referral sources (your network) spend plenty of time online themselves.  So, you should consider whether your internet marketing is keeping you connected and familiar (top of mind) with those who are already in your network.

Build Rapport with Prospects

The more widespread internet presence you have (website, social media, Google, videos, etc), the more visible you will be.  Going back to the billboard example, the goal is to create exposure, build your brand and ultimately generate leads because of that exposure.  By making yourself more visible online it becomes more likely that prospects will come across you and your firm over and over, which in turn will help you build rapport through familiarity.

So, you may wonder how you can do this?  Here are some ideas you should start today!

Start by implementing an email newsletter in order to stay better connected (more familiar) with your network. And make sure to include a good photo of yourself so that your subscribers get used to seeing your face.  Create blog articles and video so that you can have a presence in the blog and video world of the internet, and even re-purpose your blog and video within your email newsletter to make it stronger.  Finally, get on social media…what are you waiting for?  This is where consumers spend more time than anywhere else on the internet.  Talk about exposure, familiarity and rapport…social media is a great place to build it.

Know you need to do this but realize it’s not how you want to spend your own time?  Give us a call so we can take it off your plate and make it happen!

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Marc Cerniglia

Marc is a founding Partner at Spotlight Branding, an internet marketing and branding firm for lawyers. He is passionate about helping lawyers understand the truths and myths about internet marketing, and educating them on how to get the most out of their marketing efforts.